


Bonum et Malum

by darkness_prince_dan



Series: Darkness Trilogy [2]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, Phan AU, Phan Angst, Phan Fluff, Phanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:09:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4498260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkness_prince_dan/pseuds/darkness_prince_dan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the first time in his life the Prince of Darkness chooses love over his kingdom but is it the right choice?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bonum et Malum

**Author's Note:**

> The title means 'good and evil' if you're wondering.

The trees of the Shadow woods sway lightly in the spring wind making a quiet sound. Their swishing is accompanied by a song of a dark bird. People say that when you hear it, you can be sure that you just lost a loved one. The melody is melancholic, belonging to winter and not to spring. It lasts for a long time until a cloud covers the full moon making the bird cease its singing. Now only the rustling of the trees and the scraping of the branches against the castle’s windows can be heard. It’s a calm night. The Prince of Darkness hates it for being such. The nature shouldn’t be so serene after what happened. It should rage, rain hail, there should be storms brewing, thunder clapping, lightning flashing, wind howling. Instead there’s only peace.

The castle of Noxvale is quiet, too. It unnerves the Prince that nobody seems to care about what happened. It is true that he told his secret to only a select few but it irks him that people are just continuing on with their monotonous lives not aware of the tragedy.

Darkness cloaks the Prince’s chamber. The only source of light is the fireplace which does nothing to make the room warmer since a window is open but the Prince scarcely cares as he stares at a map on the table in front of him. The door creaks open loudly and in steps one of his councillors.

“Your Grace,” he addresses the Prince timidly. “You haven’t slept in days. And you haven’t eaten anything. We are worried about –”

“Do you have any news?” The Prince cuts him off almost sneering. “Do you know where he is held? Have you heard how they are treating him? Is he even alive?”

The councillor gulps audibly and rubs his hands on his jeans. He glances around anxiously but he only meets the three eyed gazes of the Prince’s shadow wolves.

“There are no news yet, Your Highness,” he near whispers.

“Then what the fuck are you doing here?!” The Prince bellows as he throws a book across the room. His eyes flash purple and his two shadow wolves stand up growling. “Leave,” the Prince demands, his voice booming threateningly. “And don’t come back until you know something or I’ll have your head mounted on my wall.”

“Your Grace,” the councillor bows quickly and runs out of the room.

“Incompetent fool,” the Prince mutters to himself as he plops into a chair.

It’s been days since his Phil has been taken. It’s been days and he can’t stop seeing Phil surrounded by the golden guards of the Light Lords looking absolutely mortified, can’t stop feeling guilty for Phil’s capture. After all, it was him who visited Phil, who prodded him for secrets of the Republic. He shouldn’t have done that. He should’ve just let Phil live a normal life as a Light Lord respected. Instead, the Prince made him a traitor of the Republic and Phil’s paying the price. If he only knew where the other Light Lords imprisoned him or what they are doing to him. It’s all so maddening and he feels so powerless. He’s a bloody prince for the sake of gods, how is it that he can’t do anything to help the person he loves.

A better question yet is how the Light Lords found out about them. They’ve been so careful ever since the Queen banished Phil from the Kingdom. Dan always visited him only cloaked by darkness, he used other people to help Phil get into a university and win his campaign to become a Light Lord, he never once breathed a word about them to a person he doesn’t fully trust. Could it be that people he considers friends have betrayed him and sold his secret to the Republic? Or did Phil mention Dan to somebody? Has someone overheard them while they were at Phil’s?

The Prince groans in frustration. One of his wolves comes to comfort him by rubbing it’s snout onto his thigh. Dan looks at the animal as he pets it. The wolf closes its three glowing eyes and purrs contentedly. The Prince bites his lip. He doesn’t know how he could survive in a world without Phil. They’ve always been together. Phil was the one that Dan built sandcastles with, he was the one that helped Dan choose his wolves, he was Dan’s first kiss, he stood by Dan when his father died, when his siblings fought over the throne. Even exile couldn’t keep them apart. And now the fucking dark bird sings its song and Dan desperately tries not to think of how he heard the same melody before his father was poisoned, before his mother had gone mad and killed herself.

“Dan?” A familiar voice breaks the Prince out of his stupor. “Edmund said you threw a book at him,” Sebastian smiles. He’s one of the few who actually knew about Dan and Phil’s relationship from the beginning and helped them to organize their rendezvous.

“Edmund is an idiot named after a bigger idiot,” the Prince murmurs sulkily.

“When was the last time you slept?” Sebastian asks coming closer and leaning against the table. He’s, of course, worried about the well-being of his friend and it’s not the first time he’s shown it.

“I’ll sleep when we find him, Bass,” Dan glares at him. How dare he suggest such a folly as sleep when Phil is gods know where being tortured for all Dan knows.

“Right. And until then you’re just going to neglect everything else,” Bass says accusingly. Now he’s turned into the Prince’s councillor and Dan truly doesn’t need to be reminded that he’s been neglecting his royal duties.

“Oh, do tell what petty thing have I missed?” Dan rolls his eyes.

“Well, we’re completely losing at Winter Edge,” Bass starts to tick off on his fingers, his speech is accompanied by the melody of the dark bird, “the Empire has claimed three more of our towns there and their army is marching here. The States will no longer ship us anything because their soldiers at Mountain Pass need supplies. Should I remind you that they’re our only allies against the Republic in this war? And the Free Nations told me to piss off when I tried to renew our treaty so we’re not getting any goods from them either.”

“I don’t care about the Empire or the States or the Nations. They can all go to hell for all I care,” the Prince glances out the window and wonders how long it would take to find that fucking bird and chop its head off. “If you have no news about Phil, then I suggest you leave before I throw a book at you too.”

“The Kingdom will be the one to go to hell if you don’t stop sulking about your boyfriend,” Bass tells him harshly. “Your people are being brutally attacked, Dan. They need your protection and they need provisions. So get off your ass and go treat with the East or something or get your anger out on the Empire’s army of giants.”

The Prince glares at his friend. He stands up slowly and his wolves flank him growling silently. Sebastian raises his hands to show he means no harm and steps back several paces.

“I am your prince,” Dan says, ice lacing his tone. “Do not make the mistake of being this familiar with me ever again,” he warns.

“I’m just trying to help you,” Sebastian says. “I know you and Phil are inseparable but you have to consider the idea that he might already be dead. And you still have a country to rule.”

“He is not dead!” The Prince shouts slamming his hands on the table. His whole being shines purple for a second as he tries to contain his fury.

Sebastian doesn’t get a chance to try and calm him down or even respond as another person enters the Prince’s chamber. She’s a petite girl with brown curls in which twigs and leaves have intertwined, green eyes which are bloodshot from lack of sleep and riding clothes which are muddied and dusty.

“Nicole,” the Prince sighs in relief. “Do you –” he starts to say but the girl cuts him off.

“He’s in the dungeons of the Parliament Palace,” she reports without so much as greeting her prince. “I’ve already looked around,” Nicole says coming closer and just glancing at Sebastian. They’re not on the best terms since Bass keeps badgering Dan about the Kingdom and Nicole insists that Phil is their priority. “It’s heavily guarded, even more so now since they’ve got him there. There’s only one way in and out and the Parliament is in the middle of the city, the ice fires burn bright there. We won’t be able to sneak in without being noticed, not to mention getting out.”

The Prince nods. Nicole once again proved to be more useful than his whole army of spies. And, of course, it’s great news that Phil’s alive and that bloody bird can finally fuck off. Now  Dan knows where he is and how to get there without being seen. Finally there’s something for him to do.

He sweeps all the unnecessary books and papers off his table and finds the necessary map.

“This is how we’re getting in,” he says determined.

Nicole comes to stand next to him. She surveys the map biting her lip. The intricate patterns of tunnel systems beneath the Republic’s capital are quite familiar to Dan but Nicole’s seeing them for the first time.

“How do you know they haven’t caved? Or maybe the Lords closed them off?” She doubts.

“Me and Phil have been using them for a couple of years, they’re safe,” Dan assures her.

Nicole nods trusting her prince.

“I’ll gather some troops, we’ll be ready by tomorrow night,” she says.

“No,” Dan stops her taking her by the arm. “An army will be of no use in the tunnels. It’s going to be just me, you and Bass. And we go now,” he glances at Sebastian who doesn’t look too pleased but nods his agreement anyway, assumingly, not wanting to anger the Prince again.

The Prince rolls up the map giving it to Nicole. He goes to stand in front of a wall with his wolves by his side. Extending his left hand, he lightly touches the wall with his fingertips and a portal opens. The wolves go through first, then come Dan and his councillors.

The moon is still shining brightly above the Light forest as it was above the Shadow woods. It’s silent here as well. There’s no sound of any dark bird and the Prince is finally at ease. They will find him, he’s just an hour away from his Phil. Dan grins like a maniac as he searches for the trap door. Finally, he finds it and with the help of Sebastian heaves it open. They file into the tunnel and Nicole unrolls the map while Dan produces a purple fire from his fingertips. It’s eerie in the tunnels but the Prince is used to that, after all, dark magic is his forte and it’s not easy to scare the Prince of Darkness.

“What are you going to do when we get him back?” Sebastian whispers glancing at Dan. “He’s not a citizen of our kingdom. The Lords might want him back.”

“I couldn’t give a shit about what the Lords want. Phil will be safe at Noxvale with me,” the Prince snaps.

“Your Grace, do you really think it’s worth risking your life and your kingdom’s future over him?” Sebastian doesn’t seem to understand that Dan’s not in the mood for such questions.

“Your Grace?” Nicole echoes smirking. “What have you done now to lose the privilege of addressing him by name?”

Sebastian ignores her as he keeps annoying the Prince, “Your Highness, you haven’t attended any council meetings this week. Our political situation is dire to say the least. We need to get back on the good side of the Free Nations otherwise –”

“Stop fucking lecturing me on politics. Don’t you think I know all of that? I’ll deal with this crap when Phil is by my side,” the Prince growls and nobody says a word after that.

They come to a door after an hour of Nicole giving instructions and following the map. The door is rusty and heavy but ornately decorated with vines and flowers made from metal. Dan puts a hand on it and closes his eyes feeling the light magic flowing through it. His shadow wolves soon join him and the Prince kneels beside them. They’re left in darkness as the purple flames cease their existence. Dan’s fingertips start creating patterns on the animals’ fur and the familiar wisps of darkness start spreading towards the door. The tendrils wrap around the vines and thorns of roses creeping up until they reach the metal sun just above the doorframe. The whole thing comes back to life shining brightly and hissing but the darkness overwhelms it and the door creaks open. A slant of light creeps into the tunnel.

The Prince rises and catches himself on the door frame before he splats face first on the ground. Apparently, not eating or sleeping for days and performing highly complex magic don’t mix well.

“Are you alright?” Nicole asks worried putting a hand on Dan’s shoulder.

“I’m fine,” he lies as he steadies himself.

Sebastian and Nicole are not convinced but the Prince doesn’t listen to them squabbling about his health and moves forwards. Here the corridors are illuminated by the ice fire torches so everything glows light blue. The cells are few and far between so the captives would have no chance of interacting with one another. The tricky part is deciding which one holds Phil. However, the shadow wolves come to Dan’s aid as they sniff the air and look around with their glowing three eyes. They round the corner and stop at an inconspicuous cell but Dan knows to trust his wolves. Sebastian and Nicole guard him as Dan uses his magic to unlock the door.

It’s completely dark inside the cell. Dan once again ignites his purple flames and steps in. Phil is there. His hands are chained above his head and he’s standing swaying slightly. Dan stops in his tracks as he sees the condition Phil’s in. He’s half naked, only wearing his once white jeans, there’s a bruise and a cut on his right cheek, his bottom lip is split open and swollen, his wrists are raw and bleeding from the chains and there are gashes on his back because, apparently, the bastards whipped him. Dan doesn’t even count the numerous other bruises and cuts visible on his body and the fact that they most likely starved him. Some liberals they are, calling their country the Republic, boasting about treating everyone equally and then they just torture one of their own.

Dan approaches Phil timidly and tenderly touches his left cheek with his right hand because the purple flame is still blazing in his left one. Phil jerks at the touch and he groans when he sees Dan.

“No,” he whispers almost inaudibly shaking his head. “I don’t want this dream anymore. Please, leave me be,” he says so full of desperation that Dan wants to burn the ones who put Phil through sleep torture alive.

“It’s me, love,” Dan murmurs quietly. “I’m really here and I’ve come to bring you home,” he smiles carefully.

Phil just shakes his head more and starts to sob silently.

“I won’t tell you anything,” he says and repeats it several more times before his eyes close again.

Dan exhales shakily trying to contain his anger. The Lords will pay for this, Dan will put them through much worse, they will be begging to die when he’s finished and he won’t even grant them that.

The Prince uses the tendrils again to unlock Phil’s chains and that drains him even more. But he forces himself to stay alert and catches Phil in his arms. The former Light Lord jolts awake at the action and stares incredulously at Dan. He lifts his feeble hand and strokes Dan’s cheek.

“It’s really you,” he whispers in wonderment.

“Yeah, and I need you to stand up for me, love,” Dan smiles in answer struggling to keep Phil upright.

Phil’s legs are wobbly but he’s standing stroking Dan’s cheeks with both of his hands now. His fingertips ghost over the bags under Dan’s eyes and over his pale lips.

“You look like shit,” Phil cracks a smile and immediately regrets it as his lip splits open.

Dan shakes his head in amusement and hugs Phil closer to himself starting to drag him out of the cell. Phil flinches as Dan’s hands touch his wounds but doesn’t say anything. Outside the cell, Sebastian and Nicole are standing now holding torches. Nicole’s eyes widen as she sees Phil battered and bruised and Bass comes to help Dan in supporting Phil’s weight. Neither of them says anything as they get back to the door, only Phil murmurs something incoherently as he drifts off while walking. Dan’s glad that the door to the tunnels hasn’t closed because he’s not sure he could use that kind of magic again right now. They get back to the forest without any disturbances and Dan musters up his strength one last time to open a portal.

***

Phil wakes up slowly. He dreamt of Dan last night, again. They always make him dream of Dan saving him to give him hope and then laugh about it the next day saying that the Prince of Darkness doesn’t give a shit about Phil, that he’s probably happy to be rid of him, happy to not be forced to act like he’s in love anymore. The Lords try to convince him how evil Dan is, how his title alone shows what kind of person he is. But Phil knows better than to trust them and tell all he’s learned about Dan to them. Though, recently he’s started to doubt himself. It’s been days, weeks even for all he knows, and Dan hasn’t shown up. Maybe all of it really was an act. Dan’s great at manipulating, he doesn’t hesitate to break his alliances or to betray his supporters. But he wouldn’t do that to Phil, would he? Besides, Dan’s kingdom is at war on two fronts so he has a lot on his plate as it is. He can’t just drop everything and run to save Phil. But he’ll send someone, Phil’s sure of that.  He’d never leave Phil to suffer and be tortured. Though, it’s getting harder to believe that as the days go by.

The former Light Lord instantly knows that something is wrong without opening his eyes. His whole body is pulsing with pain, that’s not new, but he’s no longer standing up and he’s not chained. There’s a light pressure on his back and then it’s gone in an instant. Phil snaps his eyes open as he sits up suddenly, the fear of some new mode of torture makes his heart beat rapidly.

“It’s alright, love, you’re safe,” Phil’s greeted with Dan’s smiling face.

He’s speechless for a moment as he stares at the Prince, half-naked and in bed with him. Phil looks around the familiar room, one he hasn’t seen in years. The black interior, the dark sky threatening to rain, the scraping of the branches against the castle walls shouldn’t be comforting but Phil feels himself relax, Noxvale always had that effect on him.

“Hi,” Dan whispers as Phil’s glance returns to him.

“That wasn’t another dream,” Phil says lifting up his hand and tracing Dan’s jaw line.

“My brave and successful saving of your ass wasn’t just in your head,” Dan says leaning into his touch.

“There were so many times they made me think that,” Phil bites his lip. The shock has subsided and he really feels that he’s been whipped. It hurts like hell.

“I know,” Dan murmurs looking at the bandages on Phil’s wrists. “I’m so sorry for what happened,” he looks up, his eyes glistening with tears. “I shouldn’t have asked for your help, I shouldn’t have even come to you that night.”

“Dan, it’s not your fault,” Phil assures him. “They knew about us for weeks. You couldn’t have done anything to help me. Besides, I’m already here so there’s no need for you to feel guilty. I’m safe.”

The Prince just nods quietly acquiescing.

“You need to rest,” he says making Phil lay down again.

The former Lord is too weary to argue so he obeys. His hand dangles off the edge of the bed and he strokes one of the shadow wolves resting on the floor. It lifts its head and licks at Phil’s fingers with a glowing tongue. Phil smiles. He can feel Dan’s gentle touches: the way his fingertips brush on his skin, the way his lips leave butterfly kisses in between the gashes on his back. It’s soothing but whenever Phil closes his eyes he’s back at the cell with nothing but darkness to keep him company. So he forces himself to stay awake, drawing patters on the wolf’s fur.

They don’t say anything for a long time. Rain starts to patter on the window as they lay together now on their sides facing one another. Dan’s hands can’t stop roaming Phil’s body. His fingertips touch every inch of skin that he can reach trying to avoid the bruises and cuts.

“I wanted to heal you using black magic,” Dan confesses after a while, stroking Phil’s cheek. “But the healer told me that your light magic would react badly to that.”

Phil’s gaze sweeps down Dan’s body so he’s no longer looking him in the eyes.

“They took away my magic,” he whispers again reliving that moment and the violation, the guilt, the panic he felt then.

“They did what?!” Dan sits up abruptly glowing purple. He gets out of bed and into his jeans mumbling something about revenge and chopping off heads.

Phil struggles to sit up again as he repeats Dan’s name trying to stop him that way.

“Dan, listen to me,” he near shouts as the Prince is thrashing in his t-shirt trying to get his head out the sleeve.

“Don’t tell me not to do anything to them,” Dan throws the shirt away. “I  _will_  make them suffer. They will be begging –”

“Alright,” Phil cuts him off and Dan stares at him confused. Since when is Phil okay with Dan’s need for brutal revenge? “You can do whatever you want to the Lords later but can you stay with me for now? Please?” He asks tired and on the verge of tears.

The Prince doesn’t even hesitate going back to bed and snuggling Phil close to himself. He strokes his hair as Phil hugs him tangling their legs together.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dan asks timidly. He can’t even imagine how Phil must feel right now. It’s really rare for anyone to have their magic taken away so the Prince doesn’t know how to comfort him or what to say. He resolves to just do what the other asks of him.

Phil shakes his head as he draws patterns on Dan’s chest. He winces as the Prince’s fingertips lightly brush over a bandaged gash on his back.

“I could heal you now,” Dan suggests making it sound like a question in case Phil wants to refuse; being healed by dark magic isn’t very fun.

“Yeah, that would be great, actually,” he says.

The Prince peels off the bandages on Phil’s back frowning at the gashes and swearing that the Light Lords will regret this and soon. He calls one of his wolves to sit next to him on the bed. He puts one of his hands on Phil’s lower back and starts drawing patterns on the wolf’s fur with the other. The tendrils of darkness edge towards Phil’s back and he shivers when they start slithering their way up his side. The black wisps lick at the wounds searing them quickly though painfully; Phil has to bite a pillow so as not to scream. Scars remain where the whip touched his back, marking Phil’s body and not letting him forget the torture he’s experienced. Dan would love to remove any sign of that but only light spells can do that. Dark magic is raw, graceless and hard; it destroys instead of creating.

Dan makes Phil lay on his back. The tendrils move to his face ghosting over his lip and cheek, Phil frowns slightly at the pain. Then they retreat leaving only an almost invisible scar where previously was a gash and restoring Phil’s lip to its normal size.

“Thanks,” Phil says through rattling teeth.

Dark magic is also cold and as it’s been all wrapped around Phil’s body, the former Light Lord is freezing. So Dan gathers Phil into his arms sharing his body heat while both his wolves lay on Phil warming him up that way. Soon the shivering stops and Phil’s skin is once again warm to Dan’s touch. Phil turns his head kissing Dan’s collarbone lightly.

“I was thinking of you all the time I was there,” he confesses. “I knew you’d come to save me and that’s what kept me strong.”

“I wish you didn’t have to be strong,” Dan brushes his fingers through Phil’s hair. “I should’ve come sooner, I should’ve known that they’d keep you close.”

“It’s alright,” Phil whispers untangling himself from Dan and hovering over him. “I’m here now,” he says and kisses Dan softly.

***

It’s the middle of the night and Phil’s left Dan’s bed only to have a bath and even then Dan kept fussing about him. Phil would be annoyed if not for the fact that it was coming from the Prince of Darkness himself and as pointed out by Sebastian, who came to see how Phil’s doing and ruin Dan’s mood by asking him to come to a council meeting, ‘totally not how a royal should act’.

The rain has stopped and the sky is clear again. Phil’s staring at the full moon framed by icy stars. He still can’t sleep. Being spooned by Dan and hugging a cuddly wolf helps but his mind keeps going back to what the Lords tried to convince him of.

“I’m not useful to you anymore,” Phil whispers into the darkness.

“What do you mean?” the Prince asks confusion lacing his voice and his fingers stop drawing circles on Phil’s hip.

“I don’t have magic,” the former Lord answers. “I can’t teach you any spells. I doubt they’d let me even near the border of the Republic so government secrets are off the table as well.”

“Phil,” Dan says making the other turn to him. “I admit that I don’t really care about people’s feelings, that I’m a manipulative bastard but that’s never been the case with you. I’m in love with you,” he smiles and then bites his lip. “My country is falling apart because I was so preoccupied with trying to figure out how to save you so don’t think that you’re not important to me. And if you want to help me, you can always join my council.”

“Really?” Phil raises his eyebrows surprised. “You’d make me a councillor?”

“Of course,” Dan smiles again. “I would love for you to –”

The Prince’s words are swallowed by a blasting horn. The shadow wolves are on full alert at once, standing up and growling slightly. Dan curses and gets out of bed. He goes to his wardrobe, throws some clothes at Phil and starts to dress himself.

“What’s going on?” Phil asks confused.

“The castle’s being attacked,” the Prince answers frowning.

He dons on his cloak and is ready to go with the wolves on his heels as his chamber door opens. Sebastian comes in sword in hand, Nicole is beside him with a bow.

“They’re already in the castle,” Bass announces. “We have to get you out of here.”

Dan groans and runs a hand through his hair.

“How did they break through?” He asks clenching his jaw to stop from expressing his anger in an extremely destructive manner.

“They’re giants, Your Grace,” Sebastian says. “And they have a fire sage with them.”

“Fuck,” the Prince whispers dragging his hands across his face.

It’s all his fault, of course. He shouldn’t have just closed off in his chamber for a bloody week. He should’ve done something about the increasing attacks, he should’ve tried to treat with the Emperor again, he should’ve left the Republic alone and asked for the States to send their soldiers up to Winter Edge, he should’ve looked for allies in the East. But he got caught up with his feelings and now he’s losing his castle. How long will it take them to take his head too?

“We can try to fight them if you want,” Nicole says. “Your men and women will stand with you.”

The Prince shakes his head.

“No. Tell them to abandon the castle and take refuge. Plenty of them already died at Winter Edge.”

Nicole nods and leaves to give out instructions. Sebastian shifts nervously as Dan just stares at the wall in front of him thinking of a place they’d be safe in. He’ll have to call back his soldiers from Sand Border to keep the front here and he’ll have to send some of his wizards to help them. Meanwhile, they’ll stay in Night Port. The Emperor won’t follow them there, not when he has the castle.

“Your Grace,” Sebastian says carefully. “We really need to go.”

Dan nods. He looks at Phil who’s standing by his bed dressed in Dan’s clothes and extends his hand to him. The Prince can’t help but wonder that if it weren’t for this man, his soldiers wouldn’t be slaughtered right now. But he’s worth it, right?

They walk through the halls hearing blades crashing into one another outside, people shouting in pain and giants grunting while breaking through doors. The Prince balls his hand into a fist. He wants to fight them, to help his people but if he gets out there, he’ll become the number one target and it’s really unlikely he’ll hold against giants even with his shadow wolves.

They reach the throne room where the Prince’s court and the servants have already gathered. He ignores all the curtsies and Your Graces and goes straight to a wall to open up a portal. Phil stands behind him as people pour through, servants and lords alike. They all look at Phil with curiosity, some with blatant hate but Dan disregards it for now.

Nicole comes when the last of the people are going through.

“Everybody left,” she announces.

The Prince nods. He can feel his power diminishing as the portal gets smaller and smaller.

“Go,” he says to Nicole then turns to Phil. “You too, I’m right behind you.”

Nicole obeys her prince immediately and Phil lags behind kissing him deeply. Dan wants to smile at him and say something witty but all he can do is shove Phil away from himself and order him to go. Phil looks at him all worried and Dan shifts his gaze away from him.

His wolves go next and then Sebastian steps up.

“Your Grace, if I may say something, as your friend” he says.

“Sure, we’re just under attack but say what you want,” Dan snaps letting his irritation finally show and it’s fucking exhilarating.

“Was he worth losing your kingdom?” Sebastian asks. He doesn’t wait for a response and Dan’s left alone in the throne room with the steps of giants echoing through the halls.

Dan wants to answer with a 'yes’ but the Prince in him can’t say the same. He steps through the portal and closes it just as the door breaks open.


End file.
